Laptops and phones used for canvassing were stolen when a Lib Dem office was targeted by burglars last week, HuffPost UK can reveal.
Police are investigating the break-in at Sheffield Lib Dems’ Cybor House headquarters, at Tapton House Road in the city, on Saturday October 31.
Activists for Jo Swinson’s party in the city are battling to retake Sheffield Hallam, the seat which former deputy PM Sir Nick Clegg dramatically lost in 2017, at the December 12 election.
The seat was won by the then-Labour candidate Jared O’Mara, who was later suspended by Jeremy Corbyn’s party for making a series of sexist and offensive remarks.
A message from campaign organiser Kurtis Crossland to Lib Dem members last week appealed for donations, replacement laptops and mobile phones.
It reads: “Yesterday, I arrived at our HQ to find out that someone had broken in.
“They haven’t done any damage, but they have taken the phones and tablets that we use for phone canvassing, data entry and door knocking.”
In a separate incident, the Met Police were called to Swinson’s former Westminster office on Monday to investigate a “suspicious package” sent to the Lib Dem leader.
Her Portcullis House office was evacuated while white powder was examined. It was later deemed not to be a risk.
A Liberal Democrat spokeswoman said: “Our office in Sheffield was broken into, and this matter has been referred to the police.”
A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police said: “We can confirm that we received reports of a burglary at Cybor House on Tapton House Road in Sheffield on 31 October.
“It is reported that a number of laptops and phones were stolen.”
Anyone with information should contact the force on 101, quoting incident number 351 of October 13.